A Brief History
Most Americans know that on December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a massive aerial surprise attack against U.S. military forces on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, mainly at Pearl Harbor. Every year on this date we are reminded of that “dastardly attack” by the various news media and by educational television channels running Pearl Harbor documentaries and conspiracy programs. What many Americans today do not seem to remember, are the other Japanese attacks launched that day!
Digging Deeper
These neglected battles and American lives lost get only a fraction of the coverage of Pearl Harbor, and they include attacks at American installations in the Philippine Islands, Guam, and Wake Island. Along with those attacks, the Japanese also attacked British Empire outposts in Hong Kong, Malaya, and Singapore, and declared war on Britain (The United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) as well as on the United States.
Japanese strategists seem foolish in hindsight attacking two such powerful countries and without their own allies, but they planned this war of aggression carefully and presented the plans and the case for war to Emperor Hirohito, who approved them. (Note: After the war, the Allies found it expedient to overlook the culpability of the Emperor and pretend that the civilian and military leaders conducted this war without the royal collusion. This expedience was done in order to use Hirohito as a puppet to help maintain order in an occupied Japan after the war. It worked well!)
Japanese forces never did get a chance to follow up on the Hawaii attack, and never did invade those islands, but they did follow up the surprise attacks on Wake, Guam, and The Philippines with further attacks and invasions resulting in their seizing those islands as military outposts. Notable among the British targets that day, Singapore (“The Gibraltar of the Pacific”), believed by British leadership to be unconquerable, was besieged and taken over by a much smaller and weaker Japanese force, that stronghold being surrendered without much of a fight. Singapore represents perhaps the most lopsided defeat in British History and devastated the psyche of the British people, much as the Pearl Harbor attack stunned Americans.
These sneak attacks, sucker punches if you will, resulted in much more benefit to the Japanese than the materiel and men lost by the allies. They signaled a ruthless and ferocious capacity of a very modern and capable Japanese war machine, causing much confusion and despair at the time (more so in Britain than the U.S.). Ultimately, the nature of the attacks so enraged Americans and steeled their resolve, that the national sentiment backed the official policy of fighting the Japanese until they were totally defeated and would not be left with any realistic threat. This consequences of course, is exactly what happened, and these great Japanese victories actually led to their absolute defeat!
Question for students (and subscribers): Should Japan have realized that attacking the United States was a mistake? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
The attacks of December 7, 1941 have been widely covered in numerous scholarly and popular history books. For more information, please see…
Arakaki, Leatrice R., John R. Kuborn, et al. 7 December 1941: The Air Force Story. Military Bookshop, 2011.
Cressman, Robert J. and J. Michael Wenger. Infamous Day: Marines at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941 (Marines in World War II Commemorative Series). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.
Stone, Scott C. S. Pearl Harbor: The Way it Was. Island Heritage, 2003.
Weintraub, Stanley. Long Day’s Journey into War: December 7, 1941. Dutton, 1991.
The featured image in this article, a photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on ships moored on both sides of Ford Island shortly after the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack, is in the public domain in Japan because its copyright has expired according to Article 23 of the 1899 Copyright Act of Japan (English translation) and Article 2 of Supplemental Provisions of Copyright Act of 1970. This is when the photograph meets one of the following conditions:
- It was published before January 1, 1957.
- It was photographed before January 1, 1947.
It is also in the public domain in the United States because its copyright in Japan expired by 1970 and was not restored by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="746 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=746">150 Comments
Very interesting read. I was not aware of all the other attacks that took place on that day.
I didn’t know about all those attacks.
Interesting! I didn’t realize there was that many attacks.
I also was not aware of all of these attacks..so many!
Never knew there were more attacks. Not wise to attack some of the worlds biggest powers.
I also was not aware of the other attacks that took place or that Singapore surrendered to Japan during World War II.
That is a lot of attacks! Wasn’t aware of that!
I’m surprised Japan had the resources to complete these invasions.
I knew about Pearl Harbor but not the others. Interesting.
Why didn’t they teach us that there were more attacks while we were still in school? This is absolutely fascinating, and it’s a shame that the other attacks were not emphasized enough.
I hate when the media (even the media in 1941) overlooks less dramatic stories for more dramatic ones. Yes, Pearl Harbor was a crucial attack that arguably brought the U.S. into the war but the fact that there were other attacks with casualties that were ignored is awful.
I am very surprised that I have never learned about these other Japanese attacks before in any of my history classes
I was unaware of the other attacks by the Japanese.
Interesting watching them go from being so aggressive to becoming the pacifist country. Although with the things that are going on today that pacifist country might become aggressive again!
God bless our military and the veterans who fight and who have fought for our freedoms! — DAVID WARDLE
I can only imagine the fear that must have gone through the heads of those that were attacked at Pearl Harbor. I have so much respect for all of those soldiers out there who sacrifice themselves physically and mentally in order to save America and keep it as “the land of the free”.
didn’t know about the other japanese attacks! I have alot of respect too for all the soldiers who fought in Pearl Harbor.
Never knew there were more attacks by the Japanese
Iv never heard of the othe japenese attacks , you really do learn a lot out of these articles !
Believe I have read about these attacks before, but yes very unknown to many. Nonetheless, Pearl Harbor was a great movie so with Hollywood depictions of it, it is obviously going to be more well known.
The lesson should be to never attack American’s on their home soil!
All the Japanese did was awaken a sleeping beast
Japan: “Oops.”
I really want to understand how they figured they had a chance. Small island, few resources, even after some conquests, versus the (even at that time) industrial giant.
Japan was smart to launch so many attacks in such quick succession. While it is argued that we had been informed of the attack but it was ignored, it still was impressive the scale of the attack.
Seeing how Japan hadn’t lost a battle in hundreds of years prior to this too, I see where they got the courage to enter the war.
I never really knew more about the side of the Japanese. It was a great idea by the US to pardon the emperor in order to basically make him a pawn. Seems like the emperor really only ever was a pawn though.
Its crazy to think that if Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor again with a second wave of planes that their was a song possibility of the US loosing the war. Had we lost Hawaii that would have been Japans shinny front gate entrance to invading the US
I didn’t know much about the Japanese attacks. Very interesting to learn about their strategies.
Pearl Harbor was one of the most shocking and terrifying attack maybe ever. What else happened on that day no one knew about because Pearl Harbor was so big.
Very interesting read, I did not know all the facts on these attacks.
What the British said about Singapore sounds a lot like what was said about the Titanic. “Unconquerable” sounds a lot like “unsinkable.” It just goes to show that you should never overestimate the abilities of the things you possess and never underestimate that of your enemies.
I was unaware of all of these other attacks by Japan. Just goes to show you should always be prepared for things not to go as planned.
No one ever says about the other Japanese attacks on Americans.
Like most people my age I had no idea that Japan attacked other places than Pearl Harbor on December 7th!
While I will admit that I am rather uneducated as to the events of the World Wars, I was unaware that on the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan also attacked British outposts and declared war on Britain.
That’s takes some courage and definitely to think your the top dog to sneak attack big countries like that. I never knew about the other attacks that’s pretty crazy.
I am surprised that a little country would attack one like the US.
I did not know that they attacked more places on the same day they attacked Pearl Harbor.
I did not know that the Japanese also attacked British Empire outposts in Hong Kong, Malaya, and Singapore.
I never knew that Pearl Harbor wasn’t the only place attacked! The Japanese were out for blood that day.
Its really interesting to find out that the Japanese didn’t just bomb pearl harbor but other places as well.
I didn’t realize that pearl harbor wasn’t the only place they bombed, I had always just assumed that was the only place.
I did not realized more than just the harbor was attacked
I never knew that other places besides pearl harbor were attacked that day.
While this is meant to highlight the other attacks that are less known, I have to say that I visited Pearl Harbor it is sobering to see the effect of another country attacking The US on US soil. I also visited the 911 Memorial in NYC and felt the same. Again, we need to be grateful for our military.
Its crazy to think that we could be attacked so badly on our own soil
Their success was short lived. I can’t imagine them not wanting to take that one back.
this is news to me that more places other than pearl harbor were attacked. seems thats all we talk about.
I knew there was more than just Pearl Harbor being attack. It would have been a more foolish idea to just attack Hawaii and just fly over all the other owned territories by the Allied powers. If Japan wanted to dominate the Pacific that would have thought of the islands as the first attack.
The japanese wanted to break american spirit and all it did was to rile a hornets nest
I was not necessarily aware of the other attacks this day, yet I am not surprised. Japan was smart to attack many different places in order to show the world their power.
The Japenese I believe took on more than they could handle attacking all these major countries all at once with no back up. Foolish on behalf of the Japenese on trying to show their dominance.
I agree with Frank in the idea that the Japanese bit off more than they could chew when taking on such powerful countries. I think that the article was also correct when saying it “steeled American resolve.” I think that it was because of this unified front at home that led to such success in World War II for us. When you look at wars such as Vietnam where people were conflicted and it was controversial, our resolve wasn’t as strong and the war was more of a failure.
I am curious what the Japanese goal was. While Pearl Harbor and these other battles were indeed tragic events, they were no giant military victory. Imagine what would have happened if they had concentrated their forces in one location.
That was a very bold move on Japan’s part, attacking many major powerhouses without any sort of allies or backup. They believe in their military power to hold up, but in the ned this only lead to the downfall of Japan and their military.
The other attacks in addition to Pearl Harbor are not covered nearly as much. The attacks against the other islands were surprising. The Japanese clearly planned this day long in advance because of the scale of the attack.
Wow I never knew Pearl Harbor was not the only military outpost that the Japanese attacked that day. Other attacks happened in Guam and the Philippines resulting in the Japanese occupation of those islands. Unfortunately for the Japanese, these sneak attacks stuck the United States and Great Britain hard and they destroyed the Japanese military in response.
I personally have a hatred towards Emperor Hirohito. His leadership seemed to be based on destruction, humiliation and torture of others. Anyway, I never realized there were more Japanese attacks on December 7, 1941 then Pearl Harbor. At least in the end the actions the Japanese took against the US was their ultimate downfall.
The Japanese bit off way more than they could chew declaring war on the US and UK on the same day. While we were handed a heavy blow, our resolve was much stronger and it was only a matter of time before we started fighting back and defeating the Japanese.
This was really bold of Japan to attack so many powerful countries without their allies. I agree with Amanda, Emperor Hirohito seems as though his main objective was to kill people to make himself more powerful. If these attacks were more spread out I might have drawn a different conclusion.
The Japanese seemed like they were in over their heads, attacking two super powers around the same time. Although they were successful in showing their strength as a military, they were not prepared for the war that was going to come back their way. It is hard to believe they executed this without allies of their own!
The Japanese declared war on the two biggest forces in the world and didn’t even blink. They had carefully planned this attack and war on these countries. They had already surprised the U.S. at Pearl Harbor and even though they did not have allies of their own, they put up a tough fight. Hirohito wanted power and in the end really had none. The U.S. was able to use him as a puppet to help keep order.
This article brings up an interesting point of small details, if you will, being masked by larger events of the times. This phenomenon has happened throughout history and overshadowed some important events.
It really might have changed the entire outcome of the War had the Japanese not attacked Pearl Harbor. The US was hesitant to enter WWII, and many Americans felt that we could sit out. Once the attack happened, the US chose to enter the war, and ultimately helped turn the tide against the Japanese and German armies.
The Japanese took a huge risk attacking two powerful countries without their own allies. I never knew they also attacked British Empire outposts in Hong Kong, Malaya, and Singapore, and declared war on Britain along with the United States. The victories the Japanese attained from attacking these two powerful countries ended up eventually bringing them to their ultimate defeat.
Interesting to see that Japan up against two of the biggest armed forces in the world and did not back down. They thought they were scaring us with their tactics but overall they just ended up lighting a fire under us to win the war.
It could have definitely changed the entire outcome of WW2 if the Japanese did not attack Pearl Harbor. I was unaware that they attacked the British as well. It was not smart for them to bring to powerful countries into this war. Because of them doing this it led to there defeat.
I was never aware of the other attacks on US possessions nor of the ones on British ones. I think that the Japanese made a poor decision to attack both at the same time.
It is crazy to think how many powerful places the Japanese attacked without even having allies. I think they mainly did this in order to prove their power, but of course it also required a lot of effort and bravery since they had no supporters.
I often forget about the amount of attacks went on during large wars. The Pearl Harbor attack gets so much attention that the other attacks/invasions on other U.S. and British possessed land get lost in the drama.
Not a smart move by the Japanese to go after two powerful countries. Rather than instilling fear within the US and Britain, it gave them a reason to fight which ended up being detrimental to Japan after all the efforts made to avoid this.
You shouldn’t take on too much at once, you shouldn’t poke the bear, there’s a lot ways describe why you shouldn’t enter a war on so many fronts. I believe the Japanese spread themselves too thin as well.
Japanese went a little to far and ended up costing them big time.
I am glad that in the end, after the tragedy of Pearl Harbor and the others attacked that it back fired for Japan. These countries they attacked are great in power and military and although the Japanese thought they were one of these countries, they proved that they are not.
In the end the Japanese did these surprise attacks until they had nothing left. Two of the countries they attacked were America (Pearl Harbor) and Britain. Both are large powers and Japan decided to attack both but lost everything in the end.
More on Pearl Harbor!!
I like the proactive technique by the Japanese to take the fight to the United States, despite being less powerful. It shows a lack of fear. It was surely a better method than to simply sit back and wait for action to be taken by another country.
Japan has changed drastically within such a short time span. I view it as a harmless little island country. But back then their military was ruthless.
American history would be completely different if Pearl Harbor had not been bombed. The war would have been different too.
I never knew that after Pearl harbor they continued to attack other countries such as Wake, Guam, and the Philippines. Japan really was ruthless in their attacks.
Pearl harbor was a terrible event in american history and it has forever changed the way wars are fought. The war would eventually come to a end when the U.S. used nuclear weapons to put japan in a situation where they couldn’t fight anymore.
My grandmother was born 3 days after pearl harbor on December 10th and my great-grandmother credits that to how scared she was after. She was so scared thinking that my great-grandfather was going to get drafted into the war.
The Japanese might have planned these attacks, but they did not think it through clearly. They had to know Great Britain and the U.S. would fight back with all they had and make them pay.
I had no idea that the Japanese had planned so many other attacks. Pearl Harbor was such a terrible even that it is sometimes hard to see that this was not something that just happened to us.
After reading this article, I am really trying to wrap my head around how Japan attacked two of the most powerful countries- The United States and the UK? Either way, it did not help them in the end as they lost.
I had never heard of the attacks of the Philippine Islands, Guam or Wake Island. I was not aware of how much destruction Japan had caused around the world during this war.
I find it interesting how the US and Britan underestimated Japan. I do not understand how they were able to attack 3 other islands.
I give Japan props for being able to pull off some many huge attacks on large countries in the world.
The Japanese certainly succeeded in a surprise attack but I think their egos got the best of them when going against a power house like the United States. They definitely wanted control of the Pacific waters.
I had no idea that so many other attacks against the U.S. occurred on the same day as the Pearl Harbor attack. I cannot imagine the chaos that the multiple attacks by Japan caused in America.
I did not realize that many Americans were misinformed about the attacks on Pearl Harbor because of conspiracy programs. This is very bad because through the grapevine of rumors, many lies could be told, thus shapes a whole country’s beliefs in a negative way.
It is interesting to learn about the other attacks that the Japanese had planned at the same time as Pearl Harbor. I have only really heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and had no idea that these other attacks happened.
I have never heard of these other attacks by the Japanese. It’s surprising that the Japanese would plan all of these attacks and declare war having no allies.
I was not aware that there were other Japanese attacks that occurred simultaneously with the attack of Pearl Harbor.
What a coordinated attack for such a technological prohibited era
This article is correct in that many Americans only remember and are aware of the Pearl Harbor attack executed by the Japanese. It is upsetting that all of the terror caused by Japan has only some of it being recognized.
The Pearl Harbor brought eternal pain to American people. Japanese was fail because of their wild ambition.
The first time I heard about Pearl Harbor was in a movie called The Pearl Harbor. It was so true that Japan had great army at that time but they were so inhumanity. How terrible to create this attack and over 2000 people lost their life.
I have heard a lot about Pearl Harbor throughout my lifetime. I have never heard about the other attacks that occurred during the time.
I learned a lot about Pearl Harbor but I did not know about these other attacks that happened.
I’ve read a lot Pearl Harbor, but never heard there were other attacks.
Interesting to learn about the other attacks that took place on the same day as Pearl Harbor. It’s a shame that Britain also experienced the surprise attacks of the Japanese military.
You sure don’t hear about the attacks on the British empire outposts that’s for sure!
of course! we did not know about this unless your learning the history but, i learned it was more than just one blast that day.
I never knew that there were more attacks than just the US that day. It’s terrible to think about all the lives lost…
I have learned about Pearl Habor multiple times and never heard of the other attacks.
I did not know about the other attacks. I only knew about Pearl Harbor that day.
that’s interesting that there were other attacks on Dec.7, I only new of Pearl Harbor.
There is so much I did not know about our history until reading these articles.
If Japan would of never attacked Pearl the United States there is a strong possibility that the United States would of never joined the war. Thus, giving the victory of the Axis.
This event caused Americans to be very angry and really hurt the Japanese’s chances of winning the war. When you poke the bull, you get the horns.
This article completely disproves the conspiracy that FDR invoked the Japanese. They had plans to ruthlessly attack anyone they could.
I never have heard about these “other attacks” taking place at Pearl Harbor.
This article was news to me, as I had never heard of these reported attacks before this. Japan was definitely out for blood, regardless of the consequences.
Before this I only knew about the things that were in the movie “Pearl Harbor”
They got what they got and that what happens when you poke the bear
Japan certainly got a bit more than they bargained for after attacking the U.S.
Agreed with others, Japan got what they derserved.
I had no idea about these other attacks! If I learned about it at all, it was downplayed by the Pearl Harbor attack.
Interesting, I never heard about the other attacks on Guam, Wake and the Philippines. Great lesson.
I am sure the dates of these attacks were put in the back seat to the Pearl Harbor.
Im sure because the sneak attack they did on our soil with bombing Pearl Harbor.
I knew about Pearl Harbor but wasn’t aware of the small other attacks or even the ones that didn’t happen.
The Japanese really wreaked havoc on that day. Sad time for our Naval forces, but, it was the last time.
I didn’t realize that the Japanese had so many attacks on other countries as well as the surprise attack on the Americans. It seems like the Japanese were out to start trouble with a lot of the countries out there which then got at least the Unite State involved in the war as well.
I had no idea that there were other attacks on December 7th, 1941 besides Pearl Harbor.
So many historians and history books focus only on the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. I never knew of the other attacks. Japan was really focused on provoking other countries.
These sneak attacks resulted in much more benefits to the Japanese than the materiel and men lost by the allies.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was what woke up the sleeping American giant. This would lead to the U.S. becoming the most powerful nation in the world.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a cowardly act by Japan. Hitler warned them not to attack us, but they did not listen because he knew that they wake a sleeping military giant. Both the Japanese, and the Nazis both end up surrendering to us by the end of the war.
Pearl Harbor was awful attack, the sneak attack we a huge blow to the country. Funny thing is that the Japanese and Nazis knew it should not have been done. Knowing full well that America would rise up and destroy them.
The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor is well known and talked about in American History classes and text book. Yet most people would admit that they had no idea that there were other attacks on that very same day. I wonder if the other countries know mainly about the attack on their country or if they are tough about the attack on Pearl Harbor as well.
It is to bad we don’t learn of all the attacks but that of just Pearl Harbor. I feel that if we are to learn about a particular day in history, we should learn about all of it. Not just what happened to us but to many lives lost in other places.
I, for one, would be the first to admit that I wasn’t aware that there were so many other attacks that fateful December day. I think that the country was so focused on the attack at Pearl Harbor that most, if not all, of everyone’s attentions were fixated on that.
When the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor they sealed their fate. They woke a sleeping giant, and they paid for it.
I think that surprise attach of Pearl Harbor was an attack that backed America into a corner and forced us to come out swinging.
I do admit that I did not know about the other Japanese attacks that were launched the day of December 7, 1941. The simple fact is various media cover the attack on Peral Harbor more than the others. I believe it is because the attack occurred to our homeland, regardless of other American instillations being attacked.
I thought the only attack was on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. I would think it would be important to also know about the attacks on other countries. Especially, when in a previous article it was inferred that FDR instigated the Pearl Harbor attack.
I had no idea that Pearl Harbor was not the only attack by the Japanese during WWI. I wonder why that particular attack is the only one discussed in school and throughout the country.
After reading this article, I was sure I, like many who have posted have also noted, had never heard of the additional attacks carried out by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Nevertheless, I believe I must have learned about them in grade school once before, because the attacks on the Philippines badly hurt the air force led by one of my favorite military heroes: Douglas MacArthur. I wonder if more people might have learned about the attacks noted in this article than they realized because the date on which they happened is reserved for mention with Pearl Harbor.
I was unaware of the other attacks, I’m curious how the writers of history books decide what will be put in the curriculum and what is left out!
SO there were other attacks OTHER THAN Pearl Harbor that day?….. How come those attacks are never spoken of in history class in grade school?
Wow this article was very interesting, I had no idea that there were other attacks that day. Seems like a big part of history we are not being told about in school.
I suppose this could be compared to the attacks that occurred during 9/11, in a way. Mostly we hear of the planes hitting the tower. I do not hear about the one hitting the pentagon, nor the one in the field in PA, nearly as much.
I didn’t know that the Japanese attacked the Philippine Islands, Guam, and Wake Island.
I never knew there were other attacks that occurred the same day as Pearl Harbor! I have never heard about anything other than Pearl Harbor being attacked by Japan.
I was not aware of other attacks besides Pearl Harbor. Why do pieces of history get excluded from schools?
when i was a high school student, we had history class. we learned Pearl Harbor, but this article made me surprised that i never know before
Pearl Harbor incident was famous war in the past to present, everyone wants have Pearl Harbor in the past, so they were fighting for get that island.
I have only ever heard of Pearl Harbor and that was not a huge piece of my High schools teachings.
I did not understand the attack on Pearl Harbor, or the underlying reasons whey they attacked Pearl Harbor prior to this article and the video we watched for this week. Oil. Crazy.